Over the years, modern advances in hunting equipment have enhanced the sport and have provided hunters with increased rates of success. The hunting decoy is one such enhancement that has become more realistic in design, easier to use, and typically provides a more successful hunting outing. However, most hunting decoys lack significant elements of realism due to their lack of movement. While many prey animals will initially respond to a hunting decoy, their artificial nature becomes obvious as the game moves closer. The unnatural characteristics of many decoys can cause some game to become spooked and run off. Ideally, the decoy is intended to realistically simulate the game.
There have been many attempts to improve the hunting decoy and as such the decoys have evolved in design, materials, and realism. These attempts can be seen by example in several U.S. patents. U.S. patent application Publication No. 2002/0162268 A1 issued to Fulcher discloses an animated decoy with movable and exchangeable parts intended to simulate the movement of an actual waterfowl in its natural setting. U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,439 issued to Roos et al. discloses a remote controlled floating decoy having a buoyant body and an integral water propulsion mechanism which is responsive to electrical control signals. U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,558 issued to Cornell, Jr. et al. discloses an apparatus and method for moving a decoy in a linear fashion over a track way. U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,440 issued to Summers et al. discloses a turkey decoy having a robotic frame with a multiplicity of movable frame portions which support a flexible decoy cover.
While these attempts may achieve their purported objective each suffers from one (1) or more disadvantage or deficiency related to design or utilization. Particularly, these decoy devices are limited in range and use and fail to offer the freedom to use different types of animal decoys. A more realistic decoy having a greater range of movement would tend to interest the game and draw their attention away from other elements in the environment including the hunter allowing for a greater chance of an accurate shot.